The former national under 17 star Yaw Preko has cast fresh doubts about the real ages of Ghanaian players who once played in Fifa Under age competitions by claiming “we’ve all cheated.”
The former Anderlecht player was reacting to the scandal involving 12 Black Starlets players who were caught cheating after an MRI test.
Preko, who is one of the products of Ghana’s success story in the Fifa Under age competitions, claimed in an interview with www.liquidsportsghana.com that age cheating is not a new phenomenon with national teams the world over.
“We’ve all cheated. South America, Asia, there is no country that brings the right age,” he said.
“I remember when we played Qatar in 1991, we thought we were playing a premier league side.” When asked whether he also cheated, Yaw Preko said, “yes, I won’t lie to you, I did not play with my right age. But I didn’t deduct 20 years from my age.”
“At our time, it was the FA that gave you the age. You go with your colt’s card, and they take two or three years out of it.”
“We were able to reduce it to the right age that is why I was able to play 17 years in Europe.”
Preko was a member of the Black Starlets 1991 Fifa Under 17 World Cup winning squad as well as the Black Meteors team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.